Grading the Oklahoma City Thunder after narrowly beating Melbourne United

 The OKC Thunder starters

Russell Westbrook played a preseason high 28 minutes today. He looked good, finishing with nine points, five rebounds and seven assists. Some of the passes he gave were typical Westbrook, including the dish to a driving Jerami Grant for the huge dunk in the third quarter.

Unfortunately, Westbrook did not shoot the ball well, going 3-of-10 from the field. He was guarded well by the plucky but undersized Casper Ware. Westbrook played with his usual intensity, picking up a technical foul for arguing with a referee in the third.

Andre Roberson was the player of the game. His defense was nothing short of exceptional. He took on Casey Prather for the night, holding the former NBL MVP to 11 points.

Roberson himself had nine points, nine rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocks.  This is exactly why he will one day win Defensive Player of the Year. An important item to note: Roberson went 5-of-9 from the free throw line.

It is hard to give a player who scored 22 points a B. Unfortunately the games top scorer went 5-of 17 from the field while struggling to find his shot all game. He went 3-10 from behind the arc, but made all nine of his free throws to up his scoring total.

George also played a regular season game’s worth of minutes: 38 total. He was on the court at the end of the game -Donovan may have been testing his leadership skills in late game situations. After the second Huestis block, the player who ended the game with ball in hand was George. Those will be the plays Donovan wants to see.

In another preseason high, Carmelo Anthony played 31 minutes. In a typical Anthony night, he had 19 points and 7 rebounds. What was not typical was that he went 6-of-19 from the field. Unlike George, Anthony was good from outside, hitting 4-of-8 from deep.

Anthony matched up against his old Olympic sparring partner David Andersen, who loves playing on Anthony. Carmelo obviously won the matchup though because he is just too good.

After a quiet first half, Steven Adams came alive in the second half to help the OKC Thunder to the win. He had a double double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. It was his work on the offensive glass which was the difference. His six offensive rebounds gave the OKC Thunder more second chance points for the night.

He outworked and out-muscled ex-NBA player Josh Boone, who himself almost collected a double double. Adams had the best +/- of any OKC Thunder player with +8. It was when he made his plays that counted though. He had a great offensive putback when the Thunder needed a big play down the stretch. He was also isolated against Ware on the perimeter in the final minutes, blocking a three point attempt.